Legends of Loudoun Part 11

Again on his way to the West, this time to the Indian country, he arrived in Leesburg on Sunday the 26th March, 1775. On the following Wednesday he "went to look at a silver mine. Saw some appearance of metal but don't know what it is." On the 31st: "At Leesburg waiting for my gun and goods coming from Alexandria. The Peach Orchards are in full blossom and make a beautiful appearance." On the following Sunday, the 2nd April, he notes "But no Parson. It is a shame to suffer these people to neglect their duty in the manner they do."

After his journey in the "Illinois Country" we find him again in Leesburg in the employment of one Kirk, a merchant of Alexandria who, son of a blacksmith in Cresswell's home parish, had gone to Virginia and prospered there. On Sunday, the 19th November, 1775, Nicholas records that he "went to Church or Courthouse which you please in the forenoon"

thus further confirming that the established church services were, at that time, held in the courthouse at Leesburg. Cresswell meets and is much in the company of George Johnston, Captain McCabe, George Ancram, and Captain Douglas. As a sidelight on Leesburg's evening diversions of the period, he writes under date of the 28th November that he "dined at Captn. McCabe's in Company with Captn. Douglas and Cavan. Spent the evening at the store in company with Captn. McCabe and Captn. Speake and all of us got drunk."

On the 4th December he made a short visit to "Frederick Town in Maryland," and, both going and some days later on his return, dined at Noland's Ferry, suggesting some accommodation for travellers there. On Sunday the 10th December, he "went to Church, spent the evening at Mr.

Johnson's with the Rev. Mr. David Griffiths and several gentlemen."

He was a guest at "Garalland, seat of Captn. William Douglas. A great deal of agreeable Company and very merry." On the next day there was "Dancing and playing at Cards. In the evening several of the company went in quest of a poor Englishman, who they supposed had made songs on the Committee, but did not find him." This week was one of celebration; on the following Friday, (5th January, 1776) "This being my birthday, invited Captn. McCabe, H. Neilson, W. Johnston, Matthews, Booker and my particular Friend P. Cavan to spend the evening with me. We have kept it up all night and I am at this time very merry." On Sat.u.r.day: "Spent the evening at Mr. Johnston's with our last night's company. He is going to camp. All of us got most feloniously drunk. Captn. McCabe, Hugh Neilson and I kept it up all night." On Sunday: "went to bed about two o'clock in the afternoon, stupidly drunk. Not been in bed or asleep for two nights."

A party was a party in the Leesburg of 1776.

Virginia was heading toward independence, with war if need be. Popular sentiment is shown by such entries as "Nothing but Independence will go down. The Devil is in the people." "All in confusion. The Committee met to choose Officers for the new Company that are to be raised. They are 21 in number, the first men in the County and had two bowls of toddy,"

(he carefully explains elsewhere that "toddy" means punch) "but could not find cash to pay for it." On the 12th February, "Court day. Great Confusion, no business done. The populace deters the Magistrates and they in turn are courting the rebels' favour. Enlisting men for the Rebel Army upon credit. Their paper money is not yet arrived from the Mine." On the 22nd March he "went to see the general musters of the Militia in town, about 700 men but few arms." On Sunday the 17th May he says: "This day is appointed by the Great Sanhedrim to be kept an Holy Fast throughout the continent, but we have no prayers in Leesburg. The Parson (Rev. David Griffiths) is gone into the Army."

He has this to say about a Quaker meeting in February, probably at Waterford, to which he went with his friends Cavan and Thomas Matthews.

"This is one of the most comfortable places of worship I was ever in, they had two large fires and a Dutch stove. After a long silence and many groans a Man got up and gave us a short Lecture with great deliberation. Dined at Mr. Jos. Janney's one of the Friends."

It was not until the 24th April, 1776, that Thomson Mason, who was to prove so consistently a friend to him, is introduced, when Cresswell notes that he was a dinner guest at his home--presumably Raspberry Plain. By that time Cresswell had made a host of acquaintances and friends. He enjoyed popularity with his new companions, frequently was entertained or was a host himself. To add to his scanty resources, he made lye, nitre and saltpetre on shares and his process and progress he records in detail. His work was interrupted by frequent illness, due doubtless to the heavy drinking indulged in by him and his a.s.sociates.

On the 9th July, 1776, he learns, to his dismay, of the _Declaration of Independence_.

From time to time he dined with Thomson Mason who on the 26th July "proffers to give me a letter of recommendation to the Governor Henry for liberty to go on board the Fleet in the Bay. I have no other choice to go home but this;" and on the next day, "a general muster of the Militia. Great confusion among them. Recruiting parties offer 10 Dollars advance and 40 S per month."

But Cresswell realized the increasing danger to him, loyal Briton that he was, of a continued stay in America. In August he determined to go to New York for he was convinced that he "must either escape that way or go to jail for Toryism." He did not tell Mr. Mason of his design to leave the county, but only that he contemplated a northern journey; and from him obtained a "letter to Messrs. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Thos. Stone, Thos. Jefferson and John Rogers Esq., all members of the Congress." On the 23rd August "in company with Mr. Alexander Cooper, a Storekeeper in town" he left Leesburg for the north.

He duly arrived in Philadelphia which greatly pleased him in its size and cleanliness.

He calls on Lee and Jefferson, presents his letters, is kindly received and through the latter obtains "a pa.s.s written by Mr. John Hanc.o.c.k, Pres. of the Congress." Thence to New York, where he sees the British Army and ships in the distance but cannot reach them and begins to feel that to do so would be a dishonourable return for Thomson Mason's kindness. So back again to Leesburg he journeys, bewailing his situation but to his credit determining "to rot in a Jail rather than take up Arms against my native country."

On the 10th October, 1776, the 6th Regiment of Virginians, encamped at Leesburg on their way to the North, are described as "a set of dirty, ragged people, badly clothed, badly disciplined and badly armed." Salt was selling there at "Forty shillings, Currency, per Bushel. This article usually sold for four shillings. If no salt comes in there will be an insurrection in the Colony." In Alexandria a few days later, he learns that the committee "will not permit me to depart this Colony as they look upon me to be a Spy and that I must be obliged to give security or go to jail." Then to Leesburg again, which he seems to regard as his American home and on the 28th October sees a "General Muster of the County Militia in town, about 600 men appeared under-armed, with Tobacco sticks in general much rioting and confusion.

Recruiting Officers for the _Sleber_ Army offer Twelve Pounds bounty and 200 acres of land when the War is over, but get very few men." In spite of repeatedly admonishing himself in his journal to avoid political arguments he was unable to do so, particularly when in his cups, and so on the 28th November his criticism of the Revolution and its adherents caused him to be waited upon by three members of the Committee of Safety who obliged him to pledge himself not to leave the Colony for three months.

At this time there was an ordinary at Leesburg known as the Crooked Billet.[103] It was a favourite place for the heavy drinking parties in which Cresswell and his friends indulged. He records, after a night of debauchery, he had sent all his companions "to bed drunk and I am now going to bed myself at 9 in the morning as drunk as an honest man could wish." The next day the carouse continued. The Leesburg of the eighteenth century was as little noted for sobriety as were other parts of the English-speaking world.

[103] The name persists in England. In July, 1937, on leaving the Tower of London, I found myself facing another "Crooked Billet," a public house at 32 Minories.

After spending much of the winter of 1776-'7 in and around Leesburg and recording the great encouragement the Americans obtained from Washington's successes at Princeton and elsewhere, he, on the 1st March, 1777, "went with Captn. Douglas and Mr. Flemming Patterson to see Mr.

Josiah Clapham. He is an a.s.sembly Man, Colonel of the county and Justice of the Peace on the present establishment. He is an Englishman from Wakefield in Yorkshire, much in debt at home, and in course a violent Sleber here. Has made himself very popular by erecting a Manufactory of Guns, but it is poorly carried on. His wife is the most notable woman in the County for Housew'fery, but I should like her much better if she would keep a cleaner house. He has got a very good plantation, takes every mean art to render himself popular amongst a set of ignorant Dutchmen that are settled in his neighbourhood. Dirty in person and principle."

Though much embarra.s.sed by his poverty Cresswell refuses a commission as a captain of Engineers at $3 per day offered to him by Colonel Green and Colonel Grayson. He told them he "could not bear the thoughts of taking up arms against my native country" and they "were pleased to make me some genteel compliment about my steadiness and resolution." His despondency returns and Mason invites him to dinner and offers him "a letter of introduction and recommendations to the Governor of Virginia by his permission to go on board the man of war in the Bay." He resolves to accept the letter and make an attempt to return to England in April.

The Rev. David Griffith returns to Leesburg and preaches "a political discourse." He speaks of meeting Mr. Griffith and his wife at Mr.

Neilson's. Griffith, writes Cresswell "is a most violent Sleber. He is Doctor and Chaplain to one of their Regmt." On the 22nd March, 1777, he records "Great tumults and murmurings among the people caused by them pressing the young men into the Army. The people now begin to feel the effects of an Independent Government and groan under it, but cannot help themselves, as they are almost in general disarmed."

On the 6th April, 1777, he left Leesburg and eventually succeeded in getting to the British man-of-war _Phoenix_ off the mouth of the Chesapeake. After another visit to New York he finally reached England in safety. In spite of all his tribulations and the very real dangers he incurred in his American sojourn, he records that "Virginia is the very finest country I ever was in"--no small concession.[104]

[104] The book itself should be read. The above abstractions necessarily omit much of fascinating interest.

The people of Loudoun's German Settlement may have been "a set of ignorant Dutchmen" to the irritated Cresswell but they proved loyal and effective fighters in the American cause. They seem to have been whole-heartedly with their Tidewater and Scotch-Irish neighbors in the controversy and are reputed to have largely joined Armand's Legion under Charles Trefin Armand, Marquis de la Rouaire (1751-1793) who, after service in the Garde de Corps in Paris, had volunteered in the American Army on the 10th May, 1777, under the name of Charles Armand, had been commissioned a colonel by the Congress, saw much service and was greatly beloved by his men, few of whom were able to speak English.

Cresswell is confirmed in his statement regarding Clapham's gun factory by the record of a session of the Committee of Safety of Virginia, held on the 27th March, 1776, at Williamsburg:

"Ordered that a letter be written to Colonel Clapham in answer to his of Feby 23rd and March 24th informing him that we have sent him 360 to pay for the rifles mentioned by Chro. Perfect, that the Comm'ee agree to take all the good musquets that shall be made by the 5 or 6 hands he mentions by the 1st December next, and desire him to contract for the 12 large rifles also mentioned."[105]

[105] 8 Calendar of Virginia State Papers, 139.

Two other men in Loudoun must again be cited for their activities in the cause of independence--one as a statesman, the other as a soldier.

Thomson Mason, from his ownership of Raspberry Plain, was identified closely with the county although not a continuous resident there. We find him constantly devoting his time and abilities to the American cause. Even as early as 1774 he wrote

"You must draw your swords in a just cause, and rely upon that G.o.d, who a.s.sists the righteous, to support your endeavours to preserve the liberty he gave, and the love of which he hath implanted in your hearts as essential to your nature."

Less eloquent but more active was Leven Powell. He with Mason, in that same year of 1774, was urging his neighbors to resistance. In 1775 he received a commission as major in a battalion of Minute Men from Loudoun, in 1777 was made by General Washington a lieutenant colonel of the 16th Regiment of Virginia Continentals, spent the greater part of that year in raising and equipping his command and saw much active service until invalided home from the vigours of the following terrible winter at Valley Forge. His impaired health forced him to resign his commission in the autumn of 1778.

By way of sharp contrast to the other people of Loudoun, the Quakers refused to aid or abet the Revolution in any way. Through their industry and frugality they had, by that time, acquired some influence in the County but when they refused to aid their fellow-Virginians in the great struggle, all that was changed. Non-resistance was a cardinal principle of their faith and come weal or woe they stuck to it. They refused to serve in the army. They refused to pay muster-fines. "Not even the scourge" writes Kercheval of the Quakers of the Valley, "would compel them to submit to discipline. The practice of coercion was therefore abandoned and the legislature enacted a law to levy a tax upon their property to hire subst.i.tutes to perform militia duty in their stead."[106] Refusing to pay these taxes their property was sold and many were reduced to great distress. Others, taking advantage of these tax sales, bought up their properties and profited largely by their shrewdness.

[106] _History of Shenandoah Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 149.

As the war continued, Virginia faced difficulties in raising her quota of Continental troops. We have read Cresswell's record of these troubles in Loudoun as early as October, 1776. In 1778 the a.s.sembly pa.s.sed an act recognizing as inadequate prior laws on the subject, calling for 2,216 men, rank and file, and offering for eighteen months enlistment $300; while to those who enlisted for three years, or the duration of the war, $400 was to be given "together with the continental bounty of land and shall be ent.i.tled to receive the pay and rations which are allowed to soldiers in the continental army from the day of their enlistment and shall be furnished annually, at the public expense with the following articles, a coat, waistcoat and breeches, two shirts, one hat, two pairs of stockings, one pair of shoes and a blanket...."[107] In the same year the Legislature was obliged to pa.s.s an act against "forestallers and engrossers"--in other words what we today call war profiteers, authorizing the governor to seize grain and flour for the army in the hands of those gentry.[108]

[107] 9 Hening, 586.

[108] 9 Hening, 584.

The objection to enlistment seems to have been directed against the longer term rather than to military service itself. Also there was confusion and lack of that complete authority necessary in such a crisis. We find Colonel Josias Clapham writing to the Council of Virginia on the 11th September, 1778, asking to be permitted to send a company of volunteers, which had been raised in Loudoun, to the a.s.sistance of General McIntosh's Brigade, but his request was declined on the ground that the "Executive power" had no right to send volunteers to join any corps whatsoever.[109]

[109] 23 Virginia Magazine History and Biography, 261.

The lot of the Loyalist or "Tories" as they were popularly termed, was not a happy one. There was one James White who indiscreetly "spoke many disrespectful words of his Excellency G. Washington and that he was not fit to be the son of a Stewart dog." White appears to have been indicted in Loudoun as a Tory and thereupon to have fled the county. There is the suggestion that he was a man of some property and that to avoid its confiscation he later saw the error of his ways, returned to Loudoun, apologized to the court for his behavior, took the oath of allegiance to the new State of Virginia and so succeeded in having his indictment dismissed.[110]

[110] 2 Balch Library Clippings, 18.

At the other end of the social scale were the white convicts of which, as we have seen, Loudoun had long had her share or more. There has been preserved an advertis.e.m.e.nt of 1777 by Sam Love, a justice of the peace:

"Ran away from the subscriber, in Loudoun County, two convict servants, David Hinds, an Irishman, about 35 years of age, 5 feet, 6 or 8 inches high, pitted with small pox, hath a wart or pear on his chin, hath short, black, curled hair, had on when he went away a country cloth jacket and breeches, yarn stockings, country linen shirt, old shoes and felt hat almost new,--George Dorman, born in England, about 20 years of age, 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches hight, had on when he went away nearly the same clothing as Hinds, they both had iron collars on when they went away, its expected they will change their clothing and have forged pa.s.ses. Whoever brings the said servants home shall have Two Dollars reward for each if taken ten miles from home, and in proportion for a greater or less distance, as far as 50 miles, including what the law allows.

"Paid by Gm. Sam Love."

[Ill.u.s.tration: From the Loudoun-Fauquier Magazine

NOLAND MANSION. Built about 1775.]

But negroes and convicts were not the only cla.s.s in Loudoun deprived of liberty. Early in 1776 the unfortunate prisoners of war began to arrive.

Of a number of "Highland Prisoners taken by Captain James and Richard Barren in the Ship Oxford," the following were sent to Loudoun by the Committee of Safety at its session on the 24th June 1776:

Donald McLeod John Gunn Donald Keith Murdock Morison John McLeod Hugh McKay William Kelly John Forbas Alexander McIntosh William Robinson John McLeod, Jr. John McKay[111]

Peter Robinson

[111] See Tyler's Quarterly V-61.